91. Handbook of International Disaster Psychology [4 volumes] – Edited by Gerard A. Jacobs and Gilbert Reyes

Amazon: A remarkable team of expert authors provides firsthand accounts from disaster survivors around the globe, enabling readers to understand the lingering trauma and mental wounds that might otherwise go unrecognized, yet last a lifetime.

These are the men, women, and children who the new field of disaster psychology seeks to heal. They include survivors of torture, terrorism, genocide attempts, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunami, and other manmade or natural disasters.

This set of books is the most comprehensive available resource explaining the practices and principles that have been employed, and are being employed, to heal them.

Go to: http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-International-Disaster-Psychology-Contemporary/dp/0275983153

90. Listening and validating feelings of stress are important in psychological support – article by Iolanda Jaquemet for Red Cross and Red Crescent

Each time, the same simple principles are applied. The psychosocial assistance teams allow people to talk about their suffering and fears. They listen sympathetically and validate their feelings. They also provide clear and factual information because rumours make stress even worse.

During the first round of visits, the most serious cases are referred for specialist treatment. For the rest, there are follow-up visits and group sessions, to enable participants to share their experiences. It is more a case of post-trauma prevention than treatment: being able to talk often mitigates complications later.

"People need this kind of help within 30 days," says Oscar Morales, secretary general of the Salvadorean Red Cross. "After that they internalize their pain, sometimes with fatal consequences."

89. Project to develop brief intervention for humanitarian crises

Mental health disorders are significant contributors to the global burden of disease, and while mental health does not discriminate across socio-economic status, access to effective psychological interventions currently does.

The majority of populations in low and middle-income countries (LAMICs) do not have access to effective psychological treatments, such as CBT. While it is clear these therapies are available, they are often resource intensive (e.g., cost of mental health professionals), thus presenting a perennial impediment to their utilisation in lower income settings.

Humanitarian crises are most likely to occur in lower income settings, and there is therefore a pressing need for these affected communities to have more ready access to psychological support.

88. The psychological impact of humanitarian crises on humanitarian staff – paper by Daniela Ana-Maria RADU

Abstract: This paper will analyze the way in which armed conflicts and widespread violence (as variables of humanitarian crises) establish themselves as external traumatizing factors which can trigger a post-traumatic stress symptom in humanitarian personnel.

We intend to outline a method of integrative intervention for the humanitarian personnel affected by post-traumatic stress symptom, using to this purpose the multi-level model of intervention.

Go to: http://seejps.lumina.org/index.php/109-the-psychological-impact-of-humanitarian-crises-on-humanitarian-staff